Rhythm of the Rain
by Samayo Kaze
Summary: Evaline just wanted to explore some caves before having to go back to college. She didn't expect to meet anyone else in the desert, much less a group of fugitive teenagers and an alien robot lion. She definitely didn't expect to get swept into space and get involved in an intergalactic rebellion. Evaline should really have picked a different week to go camping.
1. The Nights Spent Awake

The Castle is always silent as I wander the dark hallways. It is the middle of the sleep cycle for both species on board, but rest eludes me in the face of all that has occurred in the last few days. Of all the days to decide to go and explore the caves, I managed to pick the week that threw me head first into a crazy space war. Of course I did. I never should have gotten into that lion. I'm not qualified in the slightest to be in space, much less to be a part of the team trying to defend the Universe. I can barely look after myself on Earth; I know I am only a liability up here. Proof of that are the bruises hidden beneath the high collar of the Altean tunic I'm wearing. My own clothes are far from space worthy and the Alteans seems to have favored high collars from what I have discovered from the spare clothes I have been given. They are from a series of stupid mistakes and not very bad, so I refuse to bother the others about them. They don't usually hurt and Allura and Coran just found out they lost literally their entire world. I will heal soon enough.

I feel a faint hum from wall and gently lean on it as the Castle tries to soothe me. I wonder if the others know that the Castle itself is sentient just like their lions are, if a little more subtle in its communication methods. Speaking of the lions, my wanderings and the Castle have led me to the main hanger and the door quietly slides open to welcome me inside. I know I have no real reason to be here, none of the lions are injured and even if they were I wouldn't know how to help fix them and I am certainly not a Paladin, but I allow myself to be led into the hanger. I feel the faint acknowledgement of the lions and greet them in turn. Yellow is concerned that I do not greet them verbally, my voice being painful to use because of my bruises, but I make a gentle purring noise that reassures the great lion. I've spent a great many nights speaking to the lions since being accidentally stranded in space and feel as though I understand them better than I do their hurting Paladins.

It isn't as if I have left anything honestly important behind. At 19, I live alone and am attending a veterinary college. Even if I had any family, I would only rarely connect with them and as it stands I don't anyway so it is a moot point. Friends I have few of, just acquaintances mostly and none that would really miss me now that I am gone. I am . . . . . not good with people. Very not good would be a better measurement of my people skills, or just nonexistent. That, at least, is something the others and I seem to share. Two in particular, Keith and Pidge, are just as bad as I am though both are more violent about it. Shiro is more restrained in his responses, but I believe that to be more a product of his enslavement then a lack of people skills No one, not even him, knows the full details of his ordeal though we all know the bare basics. It . . . . hurts . . . . to watch as Shiro struggles, but it is even more painful to know that I cannot do anything to help him. All of them are suffering in varying degrees of severity, and I cannot help any of them. It is hard for me to see them hurting, for I have come to care about them despite our brief time spent together.

Perhaps that fondness is in part because of the lions, who I know care a great deal about their oh so young and unprepared new Paladins. I have seen some of the other Paladins that have been, and all were much older than even Shiro is. The Princess too is far too young to have been placed in command of anything as dangerous as what amounts to a ridiculously tiny rebellion force. But there is nothing to be done now, and so I must accept what has already happened. The Castle helps, guiding me to where I can be the most useful and providing side by side Alean and English translations to help me learn the language as a guide to the others. Hunk especially has found my understanding of Altean useful for helping in the kitchens, though knowing something is an alturak doesn't help with knowing what an alturak is or if it is safe for us to eat. The Lions help in their own way, accepting my presence among them during the night and allowing me to not feel so alone. Often I speak to them about Earth, for Blue is the only one to have been there and she complains about not being able to see much. Nothing I tell them feels very important, but it does feel oddly good and they seem truly interested so I speak freely.

It feels as though it has been months since we first discovered Blue, but I know it has only been a handful of weeks. I was never all that good at knowing the date back on Earth, but one of the first things I did after boarding the castle was create a calendar based on Earth so I could keep track of time. I haven't told the others about it yet, though I have begun to slowly gather important dates from each of them to mark down. Lance knows when Mother's Day is, Hunk remembers Father's day, and Pidge Easter. I can remember Halloween, Christmas, and New Years, and Shiro was able to remember the correct date for Thanksgiving. Keith has been living alone in the desert. I don't expect many dates from him.

Perhaps I should go back to the beginning though, so that you can follow along with what has happened. No doubt one day our world will know of Voltron, of the good people who defended the Universe when no one else could. Of the Paladins who were willing to sacrifice everything for the freedom of others, but who at the same time never stopped fighting for the chance to return. But no one will know it like me, who has seen the beginnings of this legend form once again before my very eyes. The stories may tell of their deeds and honor and hope, but I will tell of the people who are the core of the legends. Of their sacrifices, and their suffering, and their strength. Perhaps you will never hear of me, but I will ensure that you hear the truth of them.

Of the Paladins of Voltron, the Defenders of the Universe, and the Last of the Alteans.

Of the rag tag group of misfits that defied the odds.

Of my friends.


	2. Why I Shouldn't Talk to Strangers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron Legendary Defenders or any of the characters except for Evaline.**

 _Thoughts_

Direct quotes

*Several weeks ago, Earth*

The sun rises far too early in the desert. I groan and roll over, trying to block out the already blinding light. It doesn't work very well, mostly just knotting up my waist length red hair, and the heat will soon follow so I know that I really need to get up now. With just a little less than two weeks left before school starts back up after an incident in one of the labs, I finally had both the time and motivation to go out and explore the cave systems I heard about out in the desert. Some other students had been trying to synthesize some pheromones to promote the breeding of endangered species and accidentally created a highly corrosive gas instead so the whole college had to be evacuated for a month. I almost wish I had been involved with the project, but as a Vet technician major I am not allowed into the labs outside of the occasional class. Still, the break is nice. The heat is starting to creep in, and I finally accept defeat and crawl out of my tent. It is late, and I need to hurry and pack up my camp quickly if I hope to get into the caves before the blistering heat really sets in. There are several caves in this area of the desert, all nestled in a sort of canyon, and I only have a few days left until I have to return to civilization. I roll up my thin tent and bind the tent stakes to the canvas before fastening the bundle onto my deconstructed cot. My camp repacked into my bag, I set off into the heart of the canyon. I have been told that some of the caves down here have ancient carvings and I want to explore those caves first toady. I haven't seen anyone else in the five days I've been out in the desert, but today seems to be the day that changes. I can hear voices echoing canyon and they sound fairly close.

"Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky." _Oh? I guess someone isn't a big fan of caves._ They seem to be in the direction of the caves I'm heading for, so maybe they are looking for the carvings too. I crest a high point on the rock bluff and see a group of boys moving down an incline towards a cave opening.

"Hey Oh!" I call out to get their attention, "Do any of you guys know where the cave with all the carvings is?" The group jumped and two of them screamed. I must have really surprised them. The one in a red jacket, and who in the world wears a jacket in the desert but whatever it's his choice, calls back,

"Yeah, it's just down here-"he cuts off as he gets elbowed by the two friends standing closest. _Huh. Must not want a girl to encroach in on their guy time._

"Okay, thank you!" I reply as I start picking my way down the bluff to where the entrance of the cave is. I lose my footing on a loose section of rocks and begin to slide uncontrollably down the bluffs. _NoNoNoNONONO!_ I may or may not be screaming my head off as I slide down. I squeeze my eyes shut as I prepare to hit the ground. _OH THIS IS GOING TO HURT!_ *THUMP* I gasp as I collide with another body and whack my head on a very solid chest. I blink slightly dazed before looking up. It's one of the guys from the group, the tall one with a white tuft of hair.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned, looking me up and down to see if I'm injured.

"Ah," I stutter slightly as I pull my scattered thoughts back together, "Yeah, no, I'm fine thanks to you. My legs are a little scratched up, but nothing serious." I inspect the damage and find nothing to be worried about. I'm a little scraped up, but nothing is bleeding so I probably just lost a few layers of skin.

"Are you sure?" He sounds worried, and I quickly try to reassure him.

"Yep, just fine. Thank you for catching me." He nods and the rest of his friends join us. After reassuring the others that I am, in fact, perfectly fine they agree to lead me down to the cave to prevent any more accidents. (Looking back I should have sent them all on ahead but hindsight is 20/20 after all.) The cave is everything I thought it might be and more. The carvings liter the walls as far as I can see, and the details are fascinating. It almost looks like armor, but before I can get a closer look one of the boys brushes some dust off one of the carving so he can see it better. The second he touches it, all the carvings light up bright blue and then the floor collapses beneath us. We fall, sliding along a waterway that spits us out in an underground cavern. "Ugh," I grunt as I hit the ground hard, hand slipping out from underneath me causing my head to connect with the rock below. Water covers my face and I splutter, surprised, before managing to push myself up out of the runoff water. The boys are standing in front of me, but looking up I catch sight of the top half of a gigantic armored robot that matches the carvings in the cave above. "Whoa," I breathe in awe as the boys start to move towards the hexagonal blue force field surrounding the giant lion. Definitely not wanting to be left behind, I haul myself onto my feet and bolt after them.

"Does anyone else get the feeling this thing is staring at them?" The tall tanned boy askes, swerving side to side as he walks.

"No," the one who rescued me earlier answers, bluntly, and I agree with him,

"No I don't feel anything. It's probably just your imagination." Mr. Tanned doesn't think so.

"Yeah. The eyes are totally following me." _Well then_. I can just barely see red jacket boy running ahead and reaching the force field from my spot behind the tallest two boys.

"I wonder how we get through this," he questions aloud and I have to bite back my panic.

"We don't." Okay maybe I don't bite all of it back. Red jacket's friends don't seem to share my alarm though as Mr. Tanned walks right up to the force field as well.

"Maybe you just have to knock," he says, hand already raised. I panic.

"Hey wait no!" I cry, but it's too late. The force field ripples and the two of us scream as the lion's eyes flash a golden yellow before the force field falls away. There is a large symbol carved into the ground with the lion sitting in the center that I only notice when it lights up the same unearthly blue that the force field had been.

"Whoa," Mr. Tanned breathes, "Uh, did everyone just see that?" _Wait see what?_

"Voltron is a robot!" _What is a what?_

"And this thing is only one part of it. I wonder where the rest of them are?" _The rest of WHAT?_

"This is what they're looking for." _WHO are looking for WHAT?_

"Incredible." _Ah, no._

Then, because I haven't been shoved out of reality far enough, the giant blue robot lion FREAKING MOVES! I scream again, loudly. I also drop to the ground to try and make myself less of a target. The mouth opens and something like stairs fold out and after a moment where everyone is still, Mr. Tanned runs up the stairs and disappears into the robot. The others look at each other and shrug. _No. Oh no. Absolutely not! I am NOT getting into a strange giant robot lion with a bunch of people I don't even know!_

". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."


	3. I'm Having a Really Bad Day

There's a panic attack in this chapter, not necessarily a well written one but I tried, so skip the part in between the line breaks if that kind of thing bothers you.

 _Thoughts_

Direct quotes

I get into the robot.

I join the others in what I assume to be the cockpit. I know nothing about spaceships, or even just piloting, but even so I can tell that the cockpit wasn't built for so many people. There is absolutely no room and I have to squeeze myself against the wall to fit in behind the guy with the white bangs. Someone is talking, but I can't hear them over the low rumbling I feel more than hear emanating from the walls.

"Whoa did you guys just hear that?" I blink and feel a burning in my chest that tells me that at some point I quit breathing. Taking in a deep breath of air clears the ringing out of my ears and helps cut through the cotton in my head, allowing me to think.

"Yeah," I mummer softly, the wall feeling very still now that the rumbling has stopped. I can hear some beeps and then I'm grabbing desperately at the guy in front of me as, without warning, the lion stands and roars.

"Okay, got it. Now let's try this." I can't see anything from where I'm pressed firmly against the equally stiff man in front of me, but I just know that I'm not going to like this.

"Let's not," I squeak out hopefully just as the new pilot hits the gas and the lion bursts through the cavern ceiling. I'm too scared to even scream this time, resorting to clutching even more tightly to the person in from of me. My body is frozen in terror and I may or may not be making tiny whimpering noises in fear but I can't tell over the thrumming of my heart. I am so tense that the swerving of the lion would have crushed me into the wall if my grip wasn't so strong. I lose it completely when we start going upside down and bury my face in a pair of shoulder blades, wrapping my arms tightly around the man in front of me. I feel like I'm about to pass out and the feeling only grows as someone mentions autopilots and aliens. _Oh my goodness, what have I gotten into?_ We get another burst of speed and I start trembling uncontrollably.

"Hey are you okay?" I can hardly hear the soft voice, but I think I manage to make some kind of affirmative response because whoever asked leaves it at that. Or maybe I just can't hear any more questions because the mix of fear and panic has me locking up and I distantly think that I might be having a panic attack but I can't actually pull myself together enough to figure it out right now. That same distant part suggests that the boys have somehow forgotten that I'm here, thought how you can forget about someone who is almost literally clinging to you like a baby Koala I don't know. There is the vague sense of regret that I'm probably leaving bruises.

Everything is black. I can't see, can't hear anything over the roaring of my heart or feel anything but the mess of **painhurtfearnocontroFEARPANIC** that pulses through me. Everything else has faded away under the onslaught of emotions. I don't know if I'm still standing or if my legs have given out from underneath me. A spot of warmth cuts through the endless loop of freezing darkness and acts like a grounding point for my scattered self. I cling to the warmth, slowly pulling my thoughts together enough to realize what was happening and then a low voice bubbles up. It sounds like I'm underwater, I can recognize that whoever is speaking is actually saying words but I can't make out what they are. The sound is comforting and I try to push past the fuzz in my head so I can figure out what is being said. _Breathing worked early_ , I remember and draw in a breath. Once again, it quickly cuts through the worst of the cotton in my head and allows me to hear better.

"-asy, that's it. Just breathe, everything's okay. You're save. Focus on my voice, there you go, come on."

I blink. Some of the blackness lifts. _Oh._ I blink again, belatedly remembering to breathe and feel a cold floor underneath me. A third blink gets rid of most of the darkness and everything out of focus. The warm spot turns out to be a hand that's resting on my shoulder. I follow the arm connected to the hand and see the fuzzy figure dressed in black with a white splotch. My savior from earlier, and the poor guy I had clung to in the robot. _The robot I am no longer in,_ I notice as my vision clears up. We're outside in a courtyard looking area with what was once likely very pretty stonework. The robot is no longer in sight. I relax slightly. "Hey," the man calls softly, "Hey, are you with me?" I nod, refocusing my attention the best I can back on him.

"Y-yeah. I'm, I'm alright now." I feel a blush creeping up my face and drop my eyes back to the ground. "Thank you," I almost whisper my voice is so quiet. The man's other hand slowly enters my field of vison to carefully grasp one of my hands. I look up unusually shy, but today seems to be a day of abnormalities. The man looks worried still,

"Are you sure, that was pretty bad. I'm so sorry I didn't notice you weren't okay until we landed." I laugh a little breathlessly. **He's sorry**? I probably just gave him massive bruises and made a huge scene. He has already had to save me twice today. I tell him as much but he shakes his head in disagreement.

"No. No, don't downplay this. This is serious and I'm fine. I'm pretty sturdy if you couldn't tell already, and you look, well," and he pauses to give another look over, "Frankly you look kind of terrible." I laugh again for some reason, feeling exhausted.

"I feel kind of terrible," I admit quietly, free hand rising up to rub a spot on my chest that hurts worse than the rest of it. We both laugh a little this time, a soft sort of noise that soothes something that I wasn't aware was aching inside of me. It also pulls to mind the fact that we are the only two out here. "Where are your friends," I ask, studying him curiously. He's big, much bigger than me at only 5ft 4in and 110 pounds, with kind eyes and that oddly bleached section of bangs I had noticed earlier. He also has a narrow scar across his face, which enhanced his admittedly beautiful face while also making him look like he could be dangerous. I decide that I like it, in an abstract sort of way. He shifts, drawing my attention down to where our hands are still connected and can do nothing but blink as I notice the gleaming sliver color. He has a robot arm.

"Hey, Hey," he calls again, squeezing my shoulder gently to draw my eyes back to his face, "Stay with me okay." _Right, okay, I can do this._ I nod again, deciding I just cannot deal with more robot anything today. "The others went on ahead. I thought it would be better for you if there were less people," he trails off, looking slightly nervous about having sent his friends away.

"Oh," I say dumbly. "Oh, yeah. This is better, I think," I manage to agree, not really knowing what else to say. He perks up a little at my conformation and I feel confident enough to ask another question, "Umm, where are we?" He pales suddenly, freezing as a thought visibly smacks him in the face,

"Holy smokes we accidentally kidnapped someone." _What._ "Oh man, I don't even know your name. Why did you go anywhere with us, we could be dangerous! We just kidnapped you!" He's starting to panic now, withdrawing his hands and curling in on himself, and I have to get him calmed down fast because I know I won't be able to help him if he gets to where I was.

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, please calm down!" _Okay not my best moment, try again._ "Um, um, Evaline!" I almost shout my name as I try to distract the man from his panic. We can get back to the whole kidnapping thing later. It works too because he stops for a moment and looks back at me. "Uh, my name is Evaline. Evaline Jones." I scramble to find something else to say to keep his attention on me and not on his panic, "What's, . . . . what's your name?" I ask desperately. If this doesn't work we're both screwed. Thankfully the question seems to ground him back into reality because I am not up to anything more right now.

"I- Takashi," he stumbles over his words slightly but the wild light in his eyes is fading, "My name is Takashi Shirogane, but everyone just calls me Shiro."

"Okay," I state because this is something, "Okay. Nice to meet you Shiro." He, Shiro, laughs. It's only slightly hysterical.

"Nice to meet you too Evaline, despite the circumstances." _Ah yes, the circumstances._ I must have made a face because Shiro reaches his metal hand back out before catching sight of it and pulling it back awkwardly. _Odd._

"Yeah, those," I agree with a tired sigh. I look over at Shiro cautiously, not wanting to rile him up again. "I-can we talk about that right now or are you gonna freak out again because I'm too tied to pull that trick off again." Shiro hesitates before rising to his feet and holding a hand out to help me up too. His flesh hand, I note curiously. I take it, allowing him to easily pull me to my feet. Scratch just tall, Shiro practically towers over me. "Holy cow how tall **are** you!?" I shout. It so isn't fair that everyone is taller than me. He laughs again, and it feels a lot more genuine this time. A lot less hysterical too.

"Come on, let's go catch up with the others. This is a conversation I only want to have to deal with once and the new can figure out what we can do to get you home." _Well that's not exactly a confidence booster._ But considering we're both likely to break down again if we tried to continue the conversation out here it's not a bad idea either, and I follow behind Shiro as he leads me into the maze of hallways to where the rest of his friends are—feeling hopeful that the hardest part was behind me now.

(Spoiler, it isn't.)


	4. And Nows It's a Home Invasion

_Thoughts_

' _ **Lions speaking'**_

" _ **Castle Speaking"**_

Direct quotes

We walk past a series of hallways in silence, following the lighted path before reaching a larger room. The rest of the group, _Shiro's friends—_ I correct myself, are already here and seem have started to poke around some. The one in the red jacket sees the two of us first and rushes up, not noticing how I pause in order to place Shiro between me and the rest of them. Shiro did have that much right at least, they're just a bunch of strangers that I happened to meet out in the desert. Just because I've found Shiro to be a decent guy doesn't mean the rest of them will be.

"Shiro"

His proclamation caught the rest of the groups attention, and they all stop their investigating to gather around us. I fall in beside Shiro, almost standing slightly behind him. One of the boys, _I think they called him Lance earlier_ , starts trying to talk over Jacket boy and the other two add in their own two cents as well. I don't know if I make a noise or if he can just feel me hovering closer, but Shiro takes one glance at me and shoos the rest of them back,

"Alright that's enough. Give Evaline some space." They back away some, but before he can say anything more the smaller one with glasses pipes up,

"Who's Evaline?"

I ease myself out from behind Shiro, who is apparently going to be acting as a makeshift shield during my unsuspecting space voyage, and offer a nervous smile to the group.

"I, ah, I'm Evaline. Evaline Jones, . . . . . hi?" I wave weakly as they proceed to stare at me. I glace up at Shiro nervously, but Lance jumps to introduce himself.

"Hi Evaline, I'm Lance and-" He gets cut off when Glasses jams an elbow into his side. The other boy steps up,

"Hi, I'm Hunk, and this is Pidge." He says, pointing to Glasses-er Pidge, I guess "you've just meet Lance , that's Keith, and you've already met Shiro. It's nice to meet you."

 _Well, he's friendly at least._ I nod,

"Yeah, we've met, did some bonding." _Nothing brings people closer together than a mutual breakdown, "_ Nice to meet you too." Jacket boy, sorry Keith, looks suspiciously at me,

"What sort of bonding?" I share a look with Shiro that's only slightly wild and he brushes away the inquiry,

"Nothing important. Have any of you found out anything yet? What is this place?" The group migrates toward the middle of the room.

"It's some kind of control room," Pidge starts to explain. Suddenly, two pods are released from the floor, both opaec in color.

"Are these guys dead?" Hunk asks, sounding just as nervous as I am. One pod opens, and a teenage girl falls out with a cry, calling for her dad. Lance catches her, she practically falls right into his arms, and he tries to flirt with her. She twists Lance away from her and demands to know how we got here, wanting to know something about a paladin and a 'King Alfor.' Hunk and I both decide that hiding behind Shiro is an excellent idea.

"We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you try telling us who you are, maybe we can help" Shiro tells her as the rest of us watch silently.

"I am Princess Allura of planet Altea." _Okay, you're who from where now?_ "I've got to find out where we are, and how long we've been asleep." She moves forward, touching some sort of control panel that immediately lights up with something that vaguely reminds me of the Pixar sound.

"Okay. That's how that works." Pidge states from right in front of the panel with wide eyes. The second pod opens, and its occupant takes a look at us and starts yelling about enemy combatants. I decide it's a good idea to start edging towards the door as Lance and the other man start needling each other. As I reach the edge of the room, I hear the lady- _Princess, whatever_ , proclaim that the two of them had been in whatever those pods are for 10,000 years. _What? What?!_ 10,000 years played through my head for a solid second before I came to a probably ill-advised decision. _Nope._ I bolted out the door, ignoring the startled cries, and booked it down the nearest hallway. There's no light, but nothing was in the other hallway and nothing is in this one either. I take a number of turns—left, right, right, left, left again—slowing down as I got (presumably) farther and farther from the control room. No one chased after me, they no doubt would have caught me if they had, but now I'm lost in an over 10,000-year-old castle. That's also probably robotic, because fuck my life. I sit down, lean against one of the walls, and try not to cry. _Let's go over today, shall we; I got kidnapped by a giant blue lion, had a panic attack in front of several strangers-one of whom has a robotic fucking arm, met some 10,000-year-old aliens, and now I'm hopelessly lost. Great, just great._ Tears begin to slip down my face, which I burry in my hands.

' _ **Is everything so terrible Cub?'**_ A deep voice penetrates the darkness. My head jerks up just as the wall behind me disappears,

"Wha-AH!" I cry as I fall through an opening. What I had thought to be a solid wall was actually a door that just opened, leaving me lying in the doorway. Quickly sitting back up, I spin around to view the room I had just fallen into. The lights flicker on, and I'm left viewing a giant room with an equally giant robotic lion set in the center. A black lion. "There's more than one?"

' _ **There are five, though only two currently reside within the Castle.'**_

 _Five?_ "I-who are you? Where are you? Why are you hiding?" I scramble to my feet, ready to run again. _The lady said that it had been 10,000 years, this place should be abandoned._

' _ **Calm Cub, for hiding I am not. Welcome to my hangar.'**_

"Your hanger," I ask, now just confused. "And what do you mean 'not hiding', there's nothing here except-" _Except the giant space lion._ I can feel my eyes grow wide, but before I can say anything more a different voice appears.

" _ **Come now Black, do not play with the Little One. She has had quite a trying day already, and it won't do to have you make it any worse."**_

This new voice was softer, not so much in volume but in intensity. It is also a fair bit higher pitched, and reminds me of some musical instrument. A guitar maybe. _**"Black is indeed the lion in front of you and the one who was speaking to you. I am the Castle itself, and am pleased to meet your acquaintance Little One."**_

I swallow hard,

"The Castle? It, you're, alive?" There is the soft sound of chime like laughing.

" _ **Yes Little One, I am alive just as you are. In fact, all the lions are sentient as well, and are fully capable of speech should they so choose. Speaking of which, I am surprise with you Black. You rarely see fit to speak to anyone other than your sisters. I know for a fact that your past paladins have had quite a bit of trouble communicating with you. Why the change?"**_

The Black lion sighed heavily, _**'Most of my former paladins were not found sobbing outside of my hanger either, Castle, and why should I not comfort a crying Cub who is on my territory. Besides, I have never ignored my paladins when they were truly in need.'**_

" _ **Why indeed,"**_ The Castle responded thoughtfully before an alarm blared out from somewhere within the hangar. _ **"No! Black, a Galra ship had just locked onto my location. It is far enough out that it will take it at least a day to reach here, but not much longer. The Witch must have sensed Allura's awakening."**_

' _ **Galra, after 10,000 years.'**_ There is another huge sigh, _**'There is not much I can do about it while I am trapped here, Castle. The other Paladins must find their own lions first.'**_

"Wait, you're trapped? How? And why?" I ask, confused yet again, "And who are the Galra?"

' _ **You know so very little, Cub. Go Castle, help Allura locate my Sisters. There is nothing more to be gained by you staying here. I will look after the Cub until our Pride is once again united.'**_ There was not flash of light, or even a goodbye, but suddenly I knew that Castle was gone all the same. _**'Now then Cub, as for who the Galra are . . . .'**_

I spent the rest of the day with Black, learning of the history of the Lions and what had come to pass all those years ago when the two mighty armies of the Alteans and the Galra clashed. We were alerted when the new Paladins-to-be left to find two of the lions and when they managed to return successfully. Black was quite pleased to have 3 of her sisters back. Soon though, the news that the Galra ship was approaching came, and with it was further complications. The Red lion was being held upon the ship. The boys will have to go get it back if they want to have any hope of surviving the battle to come.

" _ **They did it, the Red lion is free once again. They are heading back now. Little One, it is best that you are not found here. I can lead you to the bridge, or if you would prefer, I can lead you to somewhere where it will be safe for you to stay while this battle commences."**_

Nervously, I think over my choices. The bridge will mean that I can see what's happening, but it also means 10,000 year old aliens. Aliens that I'm not ready to face yet. Still . . . "Somewhere safe please, Castle, but I'd rather not be easy prey either. Do you have a secondary bridge somewhere, or maybe a communication room?"

A quite hum in response before, _**"I do. However, I think that I may have a better idea. Follow the lights on the floor."**_

I quickly say goodbye to Black before taking off down the hallway, following the glowing V-shaped guides on the floor. I end up at a blank section of wall, but before I can ask a section of it lights up in the same V as the floor markers and a small part slides away to reveal a hidden room. As it does so, a loud roar shakes the Castle. The Black lion is free. The door shuts behind me as I enter the mysterious room, just as alarms begin to ring again.

The Galra warship is here.


End file.
